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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. rash — a series
  3. march — the month
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. rush — hurry
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. rash — hasty
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. root — of a word
  10. march — music
  11. wind — moving air
  12. root — the cause
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. squash — to crush
  16. tear — to rip
  17. root — of a plant
  18. march — the month
  19. land — ground
  20. land — to come down
  21. squash — the sport
  22. tear — from crying
  23. wind — moving air
  24. land — a country

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com